Press Release

For Release: January 24, 2002
Contact: David Almasi at (202) 507-6398 or [email protected]

Black Group Opposes
Racially Divisive Plan to Reinstate Military Draft

A proposal by Congressman Charles Rangel
(D-NY) to reinstate a military draft is under fire from African-American
conservatives affiliated with the Project 21 leadership network.
Project 21 members call the Rangel proposal a blatant political
maneuver meant to inject a divisive racial aspect into the debate
over using military force to remove Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

"Ironic as it may sound, bringing
back the draft would be a good sign for those who seek to destroy
us because it would be a sign of strategic weakness," said
Project 21 member Captain A.A. Warthen, an active-duty U.S. Marine.
"The Rangel proposal ignores the obvious social attitudes
that have taken place over the past 25 years with regard to public
service. The young men and women serving today are the best-educated
and trained generation of warriors this nation has ever produced.
We are more than ready to meet the challenges that lay ahead in
the defense of this nation."

Rangel's proposal would require all men
and women between the ages of 18 and 26 to perform military service.
Those who do not qualify for the military would perform community
service. Rangel's statement that he seeks a "more equitable
representation of people making sacrifices" indicates the
plan is inspired by racial politics rather than strategic need.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says
of the draft, "There is no need for it at all."

Department of Defense figures dispute
the claim by Rangel plan supporters that minorities would suffer
a disproportionate number of frontline casualties in an Iraqi
conflict. While 20 percent of soldiers are African-American, only
10.6 percent of the Army's combat infantry is black. Black personnel
also are underrepresented as pilots and in high-risk commando
units.

Military sociologist Charles Moskos told
USA Today: "If anybody should be complaining about battlefield
deaths, it is poor, rural whites." As for the class disparity,
Hoover Institution research fellow Stanley Kurtz points out that
liberal opposition to JROTC and ROTC presence in high schools
and colleges since the Vietnam era has led to fewer college graduates
considering the military as a career option.

A 1997 survey of 76,000 servicemen found
that minority soldiers had an overwhelmingly positive view of
race relations in the military. Over one-third believed conditions
in the military were better than in the civilian world. Good race
relations are an important factor in ensuring troops' combat readiness.

Project 21 member Kevin Martin, a U.S.
Navy veteran, added: "Congressman Rangel has sunk to a new
low in trying to say that a draft is the only way to bring equality
to the military. Study after study has shown that whatever information
he has is as faulty as his argument."